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The Science of Maskology

The second Samantha Maybe special in which attentions turn to the philosophy of the mask. Why do characters wear masks, what inspires them to do so, what are there primary uses? These questions and more are addressed in this month’s episode.

4 thoughts on “The Science of Maskology”

Great great great special, Sam. I loved this discussion. Also, you’re hair is bangin. With regards to you wondering why everyone seems to WANT Captain America to wear a mask – I wonder whether you’ve considered whether it might be because the general populace needs the mask to separate Captain America the figure from Steve Rogers, the barely-twenty-three, poor kid from Brooklyn who is taking all of their hits and fighting all of their battles for them. I’ve always thought that Captain America doesn’t wear a mask to protect himself or project a symbol, but that the American people put it on him to give them a means of absolving the guilt they’d feel for heaping this responsibility and sad state-of-life on a kid. Again, this is a great special, and a rich topic. I like that you touched on a lot of facets of “mask,” and I’m also glad that you, like me, do not like Superman. ^_^

Glad you liked it! It was difficult to have ideas in my head and not discuss them with you. That’s a really good point about Steve though that goes along well with my, “he Has to be semi-otherworldly” argument. Obviously a lot of people know who Steve is, but I’m not entirely sure how many know who he Was. That would have a big impact on how people viewed Captain America though I’m sure, and if they do know the tiny kid from the Brooklyn the guilt angle would be entirely plausible as well.

I quite enjoyed this take on things…buuut I feel I should say a couple things. The Superman argument of “He was born Superman” has long since been diffused. Compelling but disproven. Also, Bruce isn’t the ONLY one in Gotham who can afford it. But yeah the shady spending habits are noteworthy. I’m with Alanah on the Cap argument and finally there is the factor of wanting to protect people, not because you put on a mask in the first place but…well . Look at it like this. All Civil War did was spawn One More Day which wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t unmask. Spider-Man’s enemies are pretty ruthless. They’d have gone after his loved ones whether he’d originally had a mask or not.

Glad to know I made you feel the need to comment Chris ^_^. Before I say anything I will remind both the reading public and you that I do all of this (as ever) without a crazy amount of background knowledge, so I’m happy to see addendums on my thoughts. Whether or not Superman was born Superman, he’s still a character that puts on a mask to assimilate into our world and that was my main point. The argument about putting on a mask to protect people so much a statement against the use of masks as it was a statement against becoming a superhero in the first place. Of course for many characters I suppose they personally see no other options, it’s their calling (etc.) but that’s really what I was trying to say. Not that life would be the same for them if they had never donned a mask, simply that they wouldn’t have to worry about protecting their loved ones if they never created enemies for themselves to begin with.